Wilmington Trust Posts 1Q Profit, Shares Surge

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Wilmington Trust Corp. said Friday its first-quarter profit fell 57 percent from a year ago, but the result beat Wall Street expectations and shares surged in morning trading.

The financial services holding company also said it sharply reduced the amount of money set aside to cover bad loans, and wrote off fewer loans as unpaid.

For the three months ended March 31, the bank reported net income after paying preferred dividends of $17.7 million, or 26 cents per common share, down from $41.4 million, or 61 cents per common share, in the year-ago quarter.

Despite the year-over-year profit decline, the latest quarter's performance marked a turnaround from the fourth quarter, when the company posted a loss of $69.4 million, or $1.02 per share.

The latest quarter's result was boosted by a net gain of $7.6 million in Wilmington Trust's investment portfolio. Not counting that gain and write-downs, Wilmington Trust's first-quarter profit was $17.4 million, or 19 cents per common share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a more modest profit of 4 cents per share, on average. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.